Belarusian Opposition Leader Receives 'Final Warning'

MINSK -- Former Belarusian presidential candidate Uladzimer Nyaklyaeu received "a final warning" from a parole officer on October 3 after leaving Belarus to visit Poland last week, RFE/RL's Belarus Service reports.

Nyaklyaeu was summoned by police last week while he was in Warsaw attending the EU's Eastern Partnership summit and a human rights conference.

Last month, a court in Minsk barred Nyaklyaeu from leaving Minsk without written permission, and from traveling outside Belarus for the duration of his two-year suspended sentence.

It also barred him from attending public gatherings and meetings, ordered him to present himself at a police station once a week, and told him to stay home between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m.

Nyaklyaeu was given a two-year suspended sentence on May 20 for his role in a protest in Minsk on December 19 by some 15,000 people following the announcement of incumbent President Alyaksandr Lukashenka's reelection.

Nyaklyaeu was severely beaten and then arrested. He was subsequently placed under house arrest until his trial started in May.

The opposition said the presidential vote was fraudulent, and international election monitors described it as flawed.

Nyaklyaeu told RFE/RL after he visited the police station in Minsk on October 3 that he explained to the parole officer that he considers himself a free man and does not agree with his verdict, as he did not commit any crime.

"Therefore, I am confident that I had every right to travel to Warsaw at the invitation of the Polish government to take part in important international gatherings," Nyaklyaeu said.

Nyaklyaeu added that the parole officer told him that if he violates the restrictions once more, he will face a new trial and will be sent to jail.